Can you tell us about the Kurbo Health product offering and what services Gemini Solutions provides for Kurbo?

Kurbo Health is the first mobile solution that safely and effectively helps kids, teenagers, and families eat healthier, lose weight, and make lasting lifestyle changes, using their favorite tool—the smartphone. Based on Stanford University’s renowned and research-based Pediatric Weight Control Program, Kurbo is the only system that brings personalized coaching and expert advice on an easy-to-use mobile app through a subscription-based model. The app features food and activity tracking, alongside one-on-one expert coaching to promote healthier eating and exercise habits.

Gemini Solutions is an international software developer consultancy that began working with Kurbo in 2015. Our skilled engineers possess the highest-caliber technical capabilities and, in particularly germane to Kurbo, deep expertise in all aspects of mobile development. We are frequently acknowledged for working independently without the need for micromanagement. Our charge from Kurbo was to help them develop and launch major features for Kurbo’s mobile health app. We fully integrated, becoming a true extension of the Kurbo in-house team quickly, and were up and running with no issues fast. Gemini’s engineers were closely involved from the beginning on the design level of the popular app and, according to Kurbo, our continued work together is helping build a strong foundation for future innovation as Kurbo continues to grow.

We are excited to report we are seeing significant results from those using the Kurbo/Gemini built app. During the last year, 85% of the kids who completed the program (at least 3 months) successfully lost weight and/or reduced their BMI. Other benefits reported include increased self-esteem, more physical activity, less fighting with parents over food and weight concerns, healthier families and significant parent weight loss. Kurbo Health is also aiding employers, health plans, and providers to do their part to achieve outstanding weight management outcomes for children and their families.

Where do you see the mobile health-coaching solutions industry in the coming 5-years?

We see the mobile health-coaching solutions industry going mainstream. Health coaching enabled by mobile health apps is a low-cost and highly effective way to empower individuals to take control of their health. Because the mobile health apps are integrated into popular consumer devices, like an iPhone, widespread adoption seems imminent. Mobile health app coaching makes real-time accessible communication between individuals and healthcare professionals possible. And the ability to address health concerns quickly is reducing the need for in-person appointments and questions. These capabilities are yielding benefits by providing access to quality information, encouraging positive behavioral change and improving overall health outcomes. It is also streamlining expensive and slow healthcare delivery channels and best practices.

The success achieved through new healthcare dissemination tools such as these demonstrate the potential for more widespread adoption and growth. Access to immediate, informed health advise is becoming a game changer. By setting goals and meeting them, positive behavioral change and improved health results are ultimately making a difference in patient’s lives and potentially reducing the overall number of future illnesses.

What recommendations would you like to give to any company looking to launch a business in the mobile healthcare industry?

The most important recommendation would be to have the right reasons for entering this industry, and that is to help people. A company’s focus should be on empowering people to make educated and timely and, in some case, even critical decisions about their health. Secondarily, a commitment to and focus on healthcare delivery system efficiency is very important at time when the nation’s healthcare is in transition. Finally, the company should be prepared to have the engineering muscle necessary to pull off the level of programming sophistication needed to build and revise applications such as Kurbo Health’s.

With 1/3 of all children in the United States overweight or obese, there is a need for more cost effective solutions that effectively help these children get and stay on a path to make healthier lifelong choices. Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. They are also more likely to have pre-diabetes and type II diabetes as well as a greater risk for bone and joint problems and sleep apnea. With these health risks at stake, it is clear that there is certainly room and a demand for more high tech applications such as the Kurbo Health app.

Other technological advances and offerings designed to achieve exceptional outcomes for all through education and empowering participants to learn better eating habits, increase their activity levels and take control of their weight will always be welcome in the marketplace. Because the industry is in its infancy, companies that join have the potential to shape its future course.